


The Moss Grows On

by NervousBeans



Series: Dream SMP Angst [3]
Category: Minecraft (Video Game), Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - Gods & Goddesses, Edward will appear later because I miss Edward, God!Tommy, God!Tubbo, Gods!AU, Minecraft (freeform), Realistic Minecraft, The OCs are very brief, ranboo centric
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-16
Updated: 2021-03-17
Packaged: 2021-03-25 07:00:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,176
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30085245
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NervousBeans/pseuds/NervousBeans
Summary: The Greaton EssempeeA land of fantasy and gods who roam among men.Up in the sky sat the palace of the gods, housing most of the main deities.Within the palace usually reigned the creator, Philza.Philza’s many “children,” as the worshippers called them, were the other major deities.Centuries have persisted with the gods keeping a watchful eye on their followers, and on their connected siblings.One day, however, one of Philza’s creations, a ruler by the name of the “End King” had gotten too cocky of his own power. He made a grave mistake in his attempts to capture the world from the gods’ grasp.The End King had stolen an infantile god from a quartet just recently created.----Raised among half mortals, without knowledge of his own heritage, Ranboo was confused.He didn’t look like any of his siblings, the endermen he had woken up with one day and who had coddled and cooed at him as a baby.Even after leaving the decimated End, the great Mother’s body decaying as the endermen made their escape, he felt out of place.Could he ever find a place where he belonged?
Series: Dream SMP Angst [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2149137
Comments: 9
Kudos: 66





	1. Live a Life You Will Remember

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome to another story! This one I've been excited on for a while. Benchtwt will come in later on of course, because I can't stay away from them for long.

“Oh, Ranboo! Could you come here for a second, hun?” With the call, a tall piebald looking hybrid raised his head. His dual tails swayed passively behind him as he set down the basket he was holding. It was quite easy to traverse his way across the small village, dodging the children that ran and played around his lanky legs.

Leaning down, he smiled softly at the figure who called for him, “Hello, auntie! What’s up?” Ranboo knew that the woman he affectionately called auntie wasn’t his real aunt. He wasn’t truly related to anyone in the village, and had just been dropped here in the village by his enderman relatives after the death of the great Mother.

The woman, he remembered her name was Doreen, smiled at him in return, “Well, kiddo, I saw you were making a delivery for your Ma, and I need a favor. Can you take this basket of avocados to her? I wanted to return something for the fruits she gave me.” Carefully, one of Ranboo’s tails twisted around the handle of the basket and he nodded, pulling it back softly. 

Doreen waved after Ranboo as the teen walked back to where he had set his mother’s basket at. Hugging it in both his arms, he wandered towards the marketplace where the stalls rose towards the sky in contests with each other. Darting over and in between adult figures, a less than favorable action, his eyes caught on the stall he was looking for. 

It was decorated with glittering red and green fairy lights, small and large paper mache fruits dangling from every crevice. A large sign dangled from the front, deeming the stand, “Beloved Fruits! Learn why everyone calls us beloved!” Chuckling to himself, Ranboo leaned towards the stall with a faint grin on his face.

A small light glimmered in his eyes as he looked towards the smaller figure in the back of the stall. She was quite stout, but was very energetic in his movement. A puffy, white-tailed deer tail sat on her back and her feet ended in deer hooves. That was Ranboo’s mother, Laria Beloved. Ranboo couldn’t see his father, Warston, anywhere nearby. 

“Ma,” maybe he should’ve knocked first, since his mother jumped in alarm at the sound of his voice. Releasing a shaky sigh, she sent a faint glare towards her adopted son, “Hey bud! You scared me! I was just sorting through the oranges. Did you bring that basket I asked you to grab?” Nodding, Ranboo ducked into the stall and crouched, placing the basket chock full of cherries beside his mother. 

Moving his tails forward, he grabbed the avocado basket from where it was held by his white skinned tail, “Here, Doreen gave me this to give to you.” Carefully adjusting his grip on it, he set it on one of the lower shelves. His mother’s gaze trailed to the basket and she let out a small amused huff at the sight of it.    
  
Taking it, she set it with a few other baskets that sat in a small box full of pastel blue runes letting off a small amount of steamy cold onto the produce that currently sat within it. Ranboo could admit he was still impressed at the usage of cold runes like that, especially since his adopted father was quite the sorcerer.

Laria let a fond smile graced her lips at the basket, “I told her I didn’t need anything in return but she never listens. Thank you for delivering it, Ran. Your father’s out at the tower, so don’t go looking for him,” there went his plans for the day. 

A mischievous twinkle settled itself in her eyes as she chuckled lightheartedly, “Boo, I know you. I’ve raised you for so long, ever since you appeared in the village that night. You always go looking for trouble. If you wanna get in trouble today, make sure you go pray to the Rose, and whoever else feels necessary. I just want you to be safe, bud.”   
  
Ranboo sighed with a small smile, “Of course, Ma. You sure you don’t need any help out here though? Today might be busy.” A small palm hit his back and he coughed softly. His mother shook her head, “No way Boo, go enjoy your youthful freedom. You never know when it might end.” A sad tone had rested itself upon her voice.

Wanting to avoid any sort of awkward, sad conversation, Ranboo nodded solemnly and stepped out from the stall. His feet dragged against the coarse dirt around the stalls for a moment before he stepped onto the wooden paved paths of the market. It was a high tempo place so he had to keep moving in assurance to not get run over.

Finally enough, he stepped over the paved paths of the small village onto a rocky off-road. This road was all too familiar to the boy, because even if he forgot how to get to Doreen’s or how to get to his father’s tower, he could remember the way back to the house of those who cared for him.

His fingers trailed at the trees that dipped low over their head, the leaves a friendly reminder of when he was smaller and would have to sit on his father’s shoulders to reach them. Leaning beneath a crumbling, moss-dotted stone gate, he looked at the old house that he always knew he loved.

Carefully opening the door, he was greeted by the familiar trills of an excited meow. His cat, that his parents had found as a kitten in the rain, ran over excitedly. Ranboo crouched down and opened his arms for the cat, “Enderchest! Hey sweetie, you wanna pray with me?”   
  
Enderchest just purred and wrapped herself around his shoulders and neck happily. Picking himself back up, Ranboo walked cheerily towards the yard, where most of the shrines sat in the dappled light. Canopies of trees wrapped around the sky of the yard, creating pockets of light over the shrines to the gods above.

Veering his body left, Ranboo kneeled before the first shrine he needed to confront. It was a strong chiseled stone shrine decorated with multi-colored roses left to grow wild all over. Within a small dip in the chiseled stone sat a pink wooden bowl filled with a sweet liquid that was made by Ranboo’s adopted mother.

Carefully, Ranboo cupped his hands beneath the bowl and whispered a low prayer, “If the Rose can hear my prayers, please listen. Provide my family with prosperous growth this harvest so that they may live in peace, even if I am gone by the time the harvest ends. Light be upon thee.” Dipping his fingers gently into the liquid, he carefully drew hearts on three of the roses.

As he walked off, a light laugh echoed through the area and the three roses bloomed towards the patches of light through the leaves.

Sifting between the other shrines, Ranboo’s eyes fell on the last two he required. Shifting through the tall grasses of the yard, his fingers scratched at Enderchest’s fur as he stepped towards the first one he needed to pray at. 

A beautifully carved dark oak shrine sat with a small pool of water in the center. At the center of the pool sat a small salmon who in turn stared back up at Ranboo. The salmon always unsettled Ranboo, it felt like it was reading into his soul. Carefully picking at a bowl near the shrine, he grabbed food for the salmon and began his prayer.

“Dear Siren, I implore thee that my charisma is kept intact as I journey today, in the case that I run into another living being. Light be upon thee up in the heavenly pavilion,” with that, the food was thrown into the salmon’s pool and Ranboo was off.

As Ranboo kneeled at the final shrine, a low chuckle echoed through the area.

The final shrine was at the center edge of the yard, and was the most grandiose. It had taken Ranboo’s father the longest time to create. A pristinely kept prismarine stone glimmered as small waterfalls fell from four crevices and sea lanterns decorated the floor of the pool at the bottom.    
  
Bowing his head in solitude, Ranboo sighed softly, “To the Angel, I hate to be too demanding. But I hope that you can keep my mother, my father, and my otherworldly kin safe. I have a bad feeling about today, but for the life of me can not figure out why. Please, Angel Above, keep them safe before you protect me.” 

Carefully, Ranboo picked himself up as Enderchest nervously mewled at his face with a lack of licks. The cat had learned the hard way that Ranboo could not be comforted in that way. A soft sigh filtered from the shrine but Ranboo wasn’t even paying attention as he wandered back into his home. 

Grabbing his cloak from his room, Ranboo stepped towards the front door. Throwing the cloak on, Ranboo strapped the familiar weight of his protective mask across the bottom half of his face. It was necessary in case he came across someone not as accepting as the village. 

Stepping into the overgrown and towering trees around the house, Ranboo felt himself relax. He had always been more attuned with isolation and the world when he was within the forest. Enderchest had stayed on his neck, maneuvering herself on top of the cloak when it was haphazardly thrown on.

Rubbing between his cat’s ears, Ranboo sighed happily, “Time to get into trouble I guess. Can’t let down Ma’s expectations of course.” The grass bent softly around his feet as he slowly slipped off the shoes that he normally wore around the village, mostly out of courtesy to human culture. 

It felt nicer against his claws to be free as he leapt towards an opening in the trees. Enderchest chirped happily as Ranboo wandered unperturbed through the forest. He clambered onto thicker branches and dived from tree to tree. Unadulterated glee raced through his body as he felt his body dilute all of it’s tension.

There was this area that Ranboo always loved, where a small pond filtered through a trickling waterfall coming from a larger lake. A small cave was behind the waterfall, but Ranboo had self made an entrance so that he wouldn’t have to touch the liquid that covered it. Dipping towards the cave, Enderchest slipped off his shoulders and trotted in happily with a tinkling chirp. Ranboo nodded solemnly, answering with his own small chirp as his dual tails twirled in and out of each other. 

It was relaxing, listening to the soft wail of the waterfall while Enderchest chattered at him in her own language. Every now and then Ranboo chattered back with solemn sounds or just tinkling laughter. There was a sickly familiarity of it that reminded Ranboo of the bare minimum he could remember from the End.

Over time his memory had turned into a candle burning at both ends. Ranboo had issues remembering small things he was told everyday, like how to get to his father’s tower. But he also couldn’t remember his time from the End, only fleeting moments. Such as laying against the Great Mother as she comfortingly preened his hair.

A darker memory surfaced in the back of head, a cruel-faced skeletal man who had a voice like forks against a chalkboard. The End King, his memory provided, was a man he had hated and envied from the moment he could recognize him. Something pulled him from the memory as Enderchest nudged his hand nervously, her mewls pulling him back to the present.   
  
Ranboo hummed lowly, “Sorry Ender, that was on me, I shouldn’t have thought too hard about him.” Briefly, Ranboo thought on the one thing he could remember from before the End King’s reign, and it was warmth. Warmth filtering through his eyes, but soon enough the warmth was replaced by the cold of the Ender Void 

Shaking his head, Ranboo totted Enderchest onto his arm again. Grabbing his cloak tight, he stepped from the cave and felt his claws sink into the soft dirt-mushed sand by the pond. Enderchest’s head shot up, causing Ranboo’s ears to flick forwards.

Screams echoed from trees just beyond the river’s bend. 


	2. We’re All Dead in Devil Town

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A chance encounter leads to something Ranboo could've never dreamed of
> 
> So why is it all happening to him?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This spirals so fast but because I forgot to put a PSA for it at the end of last chapter
> 
> \---
> 
> The Rose: Hannah Rose, goddess of fruitilty, growth, sacred flower is roses
> 
> The Siren: Wilbur Soot, god of music, charisma, bards, sacred animal is salmon
> 
> The Angel: Philza Minecraft, god of death, creation, sacred animal is guardian
> 
> \---

His limbs moved without thinking

Ranboo knew he took time to process things, he was analytical, but not the cold kind. He tried to read people to try and find if they were already angry before a conversation. There was an admittance there that he was a bit of a people pleaser, but that didn’t matter right now. None of that mattered right now, as all that mattered was him making his way to where the screams were coming from.   
  
His body tumbled through the debris and foliage towards an open clearing. He could remember this clearing faintly, a portal whirring lowly in his head and sunlight filtering over soft baby skin. Enderchest hissed at the sight that Ranboo had stumbled upon, and boy was it not pretty.

A taller, golden-haired boy with elegant white and red dappled wings extended behind him clutched a smaller, deep brown haired boy with two curling ivory rams horns adorned on his head and a wound in his stomach. Across from them stood a trio of something Ranboo could recognize all too well, they were hybrid hunters. 

Stepping into the clearing, he crushed a twig underfoot with a startling crack, as a way to alert everyone of his presence. The conscious teen’s head whipped to him with a low hiss while the hunters chuckled in amusement, “Well hello there, big guy! Here to help your sniveling pals?”    
  
Ranboo rumbled a low ‘vwoop’ in his chest as Enderchest moved from his shoulders to his arm, “No, I’m here to send you on your way.” One of the hunters tugged at the audible one’s sleeve and whispered nervously. The other, Ranboo assumed he was the leader, just dismissively shook his head, “His majesty can survive with one less hybrid.”    
  
Throwing his arm into the air, Enderchest leapt and morphed as she pounced towards one of the hunters. Where before, she was the size of an average female black housecat, she now stood as large as a wild tiger, and was pinning the quietest hunter down with her paws pressed against his chest.   
  
Carefully, Ranboo pulled an iron axe from his belt and twirled it towards the remaining hunters, “I said, I’m sending you on your way. Now, will that be the easy way, or the respawning way?” He didn’t really know if they were able to respawn, or if they had any condition preventing it but he didn’t care. 

The more timid of the two hunters took a stumbling step backwards before turning and fleeing with his crossbow clutched dangerously in his grip. The older hunter hissed lowly towards Ranboo, “You and your accursed cat will regret this, his glittering Majesty will not be as humble as we are, hybrid.” 

Whistling lowly, Ranboo watched as Enderchest carefully stepped off of the now unconscious man’s chest and purred towards Ranboo. He carefully scratched between her ears and then trailed little scratches down her spine. A low whimper from the center of the clearing reminded him of why he had originally ventured this far out.

Scrambling towards the two injured hybrids, he kneeled quietly in front of them, “Your friend doesn’t look very good.” The conscious bird hybrid let out a startled chirp before flaring his wings in an attempt to intimidate Ranboo, “I can see that, prick. Gonna kill us so that you can turn in a hybrid too?”    
  
There was another groan from the unconscious ram, who’s eyes slowly peeled open, “Tommy, you’re an idiot. They’re a hybrid as well.” Tommy, the name seemed to fit the boy, reeled for a moment before sighing in resignation. He looked back towards Ranboo who raised his hands in mock innocence. 

“Fine, what’s your name?” Shuffling, Ranboo whistled once and watched as Enderchest slowly shrunk herself back down into her usual size, “The name’s Ranboo, and you’re Tommy right? Who’s your friend?” Carefully, Ranboo dipped his head towards the injured figure who sighed in relief at the semi-normal conversation.   
  
Tommy huffed in annoyance and hugged his companion closer, “Well Ran _ boob _ , this is Tubbo. We were tryin to have fun traveling from city to city, but got lost here in buttfuck nowhere and-” The golden haired boy’s rambling was cut short by Ranboo, who had placed a finger against his lips in warning. The enderman hybrid’s ears were flicked and turning, as if trying to reach a sound that was just out of reach.

Spluttering, Tommy tried to push Ranboo’s finger away and argue with the boy, but stopped when he heard it as well. The tell-tale sound of a horse moving at rapid speed. Just as Ranboo was about to grab the boys, a horse broke through the opposing foliage of the clearing.

A tight-skinned, gaunt and pale face met Ranboo’s heterochromatic eyes and a sickly grin spread across the figure’s face, “Hello, my princely champion.” With an ever-growing screech, Ranboo gripped all that he could feel, which was Tommy’s arm and Tubbo’s body, and the world warped inwards. 

  
  
  


When Ranboo awoke again, birds were chirping outside his window on the tree branches that dipped and scratched against it. Forcing himself up, Ranboo huffed and peeled at his face, trying to tell if what he had just witnessed was real. Sound echoed from outside the door, and soon enough it was slammed open to reveal Ranboo’s father.

Warston Beloved was a lanky man with a small smattering of scales on his face, and wide-beady eyes. He was adorned in his attire of brown trekking pants, black suspenders, and a cotton ruffled shirt as he rushed to Ranboo’s bedside. Carefully he took one of Ranboo’s clawed hands within his own calloused one, “Hey, Boo, how’re you feeling?”   
  
Ranboo couldn’t find the energy to speak, so he released a small, light-hearted trill from within his throat. His father, used to situations like this, nodded happily, “That’s swell! You gave me and your ma quite the fright last night when you and your friends teleported to the living room, I mean 2/3rds of your trio was passed out!” The energy Ranboo had expended teleporting himself, the boys, and Enderchest must’ve exhausted his body and mind completely. 

  
Seeing the recognition in the boys eyes, Warston nodded solemnly, “Yea kiddo, you were out cold so me and Enderchest brought you up here. Your Ma treated the one boy, and they both are awake eating breakfast right now. How about you join us?” Nodding, Ranboo stepped carefully from under his covers.    
  
Ducking into his closet, he quickly changed into his usual white cotton shirt and black pants. After finishing getting dressed, he trailed behind his father and down to the kitchen where Tommy and Tubbo sat mid-chatter. Tommy caught sight of Ranboo first and gave him a glittering grin, “Ranboo! My main man! You really saved us last night with that teleporting trick!” 

Ranboo gulped carefully and dipped his head towards Tommy in acknowledgement. A plate was carefully laid before him as he sat down and he met his mother’s grim gaze, “Your kin visited last night with a warning for you, Ran.” Shuddering out a small breath after his first bite, Ranboo tried to avoid crying.

His voice was taut and shuttery as he spoke, “He’s back isn’t he.” A grim expression graced both of his parents' faces as they nodded. This was not what Ranboo had prepared for, not in a million years.

Tubbo, ever inquisitive, placed his utensils down and stared at Ranboo’s mother, “Wait, why’s everyone so grim-looking? Who’s back?” Warston sighed and leaned carefully against the table that they all sat at, trying to find words that wouldn’t harm Ranboo, but could still get his point across.    
  
“I’m a follower of the Blaze Empress, a strider hybrid if you were curious, and long ago there was a quasi-mortal named  _ The End King _ ,” Ranboo shuddered involuntarily at the mention of the name, “As expected, he ruled over the End Void and all it’s inhabitants such as the Endermen, the shulkers, and some Elytrians who lived there. Sometime long ago, the Blaze Empress had made a conquest to kill him, as he was growing power hungry.”   
  
Warston looked to the sky, “He had done a heinous deed, The End King. Stolen an infant god, just after a council with the Angel and the Siren about the End Void and its adjacent realms,” Tubbo’s eyes widened and Tommy balked at the idea, that was an unimaginable crime, even for someone not entirely mortal.   
  
Without a beat of hesitation, Ranboo’s father continued his story, “The Blaze Empress heard word of the King’s wish for the godling, a weapon of war is what he had wanted. To overthrow the gods, he wanted to use one. Instead, the realms gathered their armies in an attempt to kill the wicked tyrant.”   
  
This was Ranboo’s favorite part of the story, so he leaned forward in anticipation. His father noticed with a cocked eyebrow and leaned back, “Boo go ahead and tell them, since you’re so excited for this part.” Ranboo clapped a bit and leaned back slightly, a small flourish of dramatics to his movements. 

Ranboo placed his hands flat against the table as he looked down, “When the Blaze Empress, Ocean Guardians, and other forces arrived, The End King was already dead. His corpse lay beneath the growling form of the Great Mother, who he had usurped and locked away long before his plots to overthrow the gods.” 

His mother placed a hand on his shoulder as an anchor as she spoke, “Ranboo’s kin, the endermen who raised him along with his ‘Great Mother’, came to us last night after you all were out and left a note with us. According to it, the End King has returned to life and is trying to regain his power, and for some reason he’s starting with getting Ranboo back.”   
  


Ranboo’s father laid his hands carefully in his lap, “Which confuses us, because Boo’s a teen, he couldn’t have lived with a legend villain such as the End King.” Flinching subtly, Ranboo looked towards the ground, his karma coming back to bite him in the ass. That was his fault, he hadn’t told his family that endermen and Ranboo aged differently than humans, so he was ages older than his parents thought he was. 

Tommy snarled softly at his cereal before sighing, “Last night before we came here, when the End King appeared, he called Ranboo his ‘princely champion.’ Do you guys know what that’s all about?” The sky-eyed teen’s gaze pierced into Ranboo’s parents, who both shook their heads. 

Their conversation was interrupted by the sound of knocking against the front door. Ranboo’s father excused himself to go answer the inquiry. Silently, the remaining household members ate their breakfast. The story had dampened the mood as everyone but Ranboo pondered what the End King could have meant. 

That damnable nickname sent terrified shivers into his spine. It was said with such a sickly sweet tone, that night before the King had died, when he had promised Ranboo,  _ “You will always be mine, my princely champion, forever under my wings.”  _ There was a choked sob in Ranboo’s throat as the memory pressed against his brain. 

His thoughts were caught when his father re-entered the room with a grim expression, “The End King’s here, Ranboo. You have to run.” 

Running was not fun, Ranboo decided, even as he leapt from tree to tree as Tommy soared the sky above. Tubbo ran through the foliage beneath them and Enderchest, in full tigress form, bound alongside the ram hybrid. She was meant to be a guardian for him while his injuries healed. 

His memory was burned with the fear of scrambling to his room, packing his journal, sketchbook, anything his hands could fit into his knapsack. His cloak was messily clipped along his chest, and carefully he yelled down towards Tubbo, “Where are we running to?” 

Tubbo looked up at him with a small sound before busting a branch with his horns, “To the nearest big city! The End King couldn’t have gotten much more conquered than your village right now, especially if he was focusing on the End. We have to find a way into the Nether to get a hearing with the Blaze Empress.”   
  
Solemnly, Ranboo nodded and trailed his eyes at the whirling figure of Tommy in the air. Briefly, he watched for a moment as light sparkled higher in the air, before it winked out just as he had seen it. Shaking his head, he focused on his poster and maneuvering through the tight knit branches and the fluttering leaves of the forest.

This trip was not going to be fun, Ranboo could feel it. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For anyone wondering, Tommy and Tubbo's titles are
> 
> The Golden Child: Tommy Innit, god of companionship, loyalty, and strength, sacred animal is a hawk
> 
> The Keeper: Tubbo Underscore, god of animals, stability, forests, sacred flower is a pink tulip

**Author's Note:**

> Have Fun :)


End file.
